Jump to content

Kids only know full power


katoftw

Recommended Posts

I'm sure many dads/grandads know this story.  the kids although love playing with the trains, only know how to turn the Kato throttle all the way to max.

 

So I had an idea that I purchase the DC cable extensions and cut them up and put some form of resistor soldered into the wiring, that I could prevent them from running the trains so fast.

 

And then it is dads turn, disconnect the resistor cable extension.

 

Anyone done it?  Or something similar.

 

One day I will get the digitrax Zephur, and it has the 50%/75% power control of the boost controller.  But until then, I need a solution.  The is only so little time before a Shinkansen derailment is fatal.

Link to comment

Yes, at shows sometime the lego club i'm railroading with sets up a controller for the kids. I made a diode chain, that can be inserted serially after the controller. It consists of diodes connected together back to back. Each normal diode pair takes 0.7V from the output. This works for any kind of controller, even for pwm and dcc. (with dcc this is used to get a too high voltage booster output down to something safe for N and Z trains)

 

ps: Actually it is possible to connect a rotary switch in a way that allows cutting out diodes one by one, so the output can be set without changing the wiring.

 

post-1969-0-68796900-1389868683_thumb.png

post-1969-0-81765400-1389869050_thumb.png

  • Like 1
Link to comment
I'm sure many dads/grandads know this story.  the kids although love playing with the trains, only know how to turn the Kato throttle all the way to max.

 

So I had an idea that I purchase the DC cable extensions and cut them up and put some form of resistor soldered into the wiring, that I could prevent them from running the trains so fast.

 

And then it is dads turn, disconnect the resistor cable extension.

 

Anyone done it?  Or something similar.

 

One day I will get the digitrax Zephur, and it has the 50%/75% power control of the boost controller.  But until then, I need a solution.  The is only so little time before a Shinkansen derailment is fatal.

 

One of the advantages of DCC is that you can enforce some degree of "Parental Control" in the form of top speed reduction...

 

Cheers NB

Link to comment
Guest Closed Account 1

One of the advantages of DCC is that you can enforce some degree of "Parental Control" in the form of top speed reduction...

 

 +1

Edited by Webskipper
Link to comment
Davo Dentetsu

Blimey, I know some of our senior citizens (or those who should know better anyway :P ) gun their stuff to the max.  Not just the non-bearded of our society that does this.  :D

Link to comment

Girls tend to be the speed demons at the shows where we have throttles out for the public to run!

 

We have the same issue and been meaning to do either a little diode plug strip like KVM mentioned or a fancier adjustable throttle.

 

One idea was to be simple and just put a big variac ac rheostat onto the wall wart to dim the power down. Only works as I have a couple of these laying around...

 

Jeff

Edited by cteno4
Link to comment
Mudkip Orange

In a previous lifetime, when I did DJ setups, I'd run the output from the console mixer through another mixer off to the side before it hit the speakers. Then when every DJ wants to turn it up just a little bit more, I can turn it down just a little bit more, and the Mackies live to see another day.

Link to comment

One of our members is experimenting with changing the limiting resistor in a kato throttle to reduce the top voltage.

 

Jeff

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...